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> Lenses and mirrors work for free; they don't take any energy to operate. Wait a minute. Does that mean that I could get a tiny solar panel and light it up wi
by aasasd 8y ago
> Lenses and mirrors work for free; they don't take any energy to operate.
Wait a minute. Does that mean that I could get a tiny solar panel and light it up with a lens, instead of getting big panels? Energy output of a panel is proportional to the amount of light that hits it, right?
I guess that lenses are ‘free’ only if they have no impurities, but even then, assuming solar panels are costlier than plastic lenses, I could save money.
Come to think of it, how is it that I haven't seen or heard about parabolic reflectors with solar panels in the focal point? Right now I've found an article about parabolic troughs that are apparently used to heat old-school fluids instead: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_trough https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parabolic_trough
- detaro 8y agoMaking solar cells that effectively can handle concentrated sun light is difficult (if they heat up efficiency goes down, ...), so it's easier to just fill an area with solar cells instead of with mirrors pointing at a smaller cell area.
- aasasd 8y ago> if they heat up efficiency goes down So you're saying I should cool them with water and use the steam to move turbines, then I'm golden! \($ ∇ $ )/
- Klathmon 8y agoI'm not sure if you are joking or not, but something like this is still used for solar power generation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_tower
- wolf550e 8y agoSolar panels don't like heat.
- URSpider94 8y agoThere are companies that do this. They build tiny solar panels out of materials that can withstand high junction temperatures, and use fresnel lenses to concentrate light onto them.
- ummonk 8y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrator_photovoltaics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concentrator_photovoltaics